Pete: You have an open invitation and are more than welcome to bring a friend or two. Val cooks some serious food and there is alway a little wine in the rack. Bring some CD's that you would like to hear as well.
Howard

With the addition of the ceiling panels - was is mostly the bass that improved? One thing I have noticed from our lovely XRT1K's is that the mids/highs are very height-controlled (due to the array). Or did the mids/highs have more of an impact? I'd be very curious to know, as planning panels and traps as my next step had me wracking my brain as to whether or not I would want ceiling tiles at first or at all since the height-directionality of these speakers is so exact.

Pete: You have an open invitation and are more than welcome to bring a friend or two. Val cooks some serious food and there is alway a little wine in the rack. Bring some CD's that you would like to hear as well.
Howard

I would love to do that Howard, and I'll be keeping it in mind. I'm sure it would be most enjoyable. Right now would not be the best time but hopefully that will change in the near future. That's a serious room and system!

With the addition of the ceiling panels - was is mostly the bass that improved? One thing I have noticed from our lovely XRT1K's is that the mids/highs are very height-controlled (due to the array). Or did the mids/highs have more of an impact? I'd be very curious to know, as planning panels and traps as my next step had me wracking my brain as to whether or not I would want ceiling tiles at first or at all since the height-directionality of these speakers is so exact.

The Tube Traps behind the speaker dramatically affected the bass detail and the soundstage size and isolation of instruments is clearly evident. The ceiling panels, in my particular setup, soften the entire room and seem to sweeten the highs and midrange. My logic (not an advanced tech guy) is that reflected sound piggybacks on the music directed at your ears and makes some frequencies sound louder but less detailed and distinct. Simply, my entire room sounds perfect.
Side note: When I was on the ladder with my head close to the ceiling, I was amazed at how much was going on up there. Now, with the panels in place, the softening effect is quite noticable.
I have also decided that a ladder is not the best sweet spot for listening.

The Tube Traps behind the speaker dramatically affected the bass detail and the soundstage size and isolation of instruments is clearly evident. The ceiling panels, in my particular setup, soften the entire room and seem to sweeten the highs and midrange. My logic (not an advanced tech guy) is that reflected sound piggybacks on the music directed at your ears and makes some frequencies sound louder but less detailed and distinct. Simply, my entire room sounds perfect.
Side note: When I was on the ladder with my head close to the ceiling, I was amazed at how much was going on up there. Now, with the panels in place, the softening effect is quite noticable.
I have also decided that a ladder is not the best sweet spot for listening.

Greaaaaaaaaaaaattttt...... thanks for raining on my parade of trying to go the thrifty way. lol!

I have to take full credit or blame for the idea. KJ Magnets has the best selection anywhere and you can get all kinds of ideas looking at their offerings. A whole variety of wall hangings could be done this way with minimal damage(#6 screw) to the sheetrock.

Howard, I thought you'd like to know that when I needed something like this for my listening room, ASC were the ones who suggested magnetic attachment. I have already thanked them, and it seems I owe you gratitude as well. The idea worked very well and is far less damaging to the ceiling than the methods suggested by other acoustics manufacturers.

Of course, the panels did the job acoustically as well. I treated the rear first, because my electrostatic speakers in theory don't interact much with the ceiling in front of the listening position. The results seem to support that.